Suggestions for 1st NASCAR event?

Other Sports

OK, I'm strongly considering going to Phoenix International Raceway for the Checker Auto Parts 500 in November. I have a vacation coming to me that I HAVE to take between October 19th and Thanksgiving, and my sister / brother in law live in Phoenix. I have never been to a NASCAR event and I really want to go. That makes the PIR a perfect solution. However, having never been to an event, I have no idea what to expect or what to look for. Right now, the best seats are turn 1 about 20 rows up. Is this even good for such an event? Any suggestions would be helpful before I make reservations. I want to cram as much fun as possible in here.

Your seats sound good. You don't want to be too low to the track, or you can't see the far side over the infield. It's a small track, so it's going to be loud. Louder than anything you've probably heard loud. My first three races were Daytona, Homestead, and Charlotte. Then I went to Richmond and was blown away by the noise. Bring foam earplugs, even if you have the over-the-ear ones.

Find out what the beverage/cooler rules are for the track. I'd assume Arizona is pretty laid back, but it's better to know in advance.

Get there real early, and take in some of the outside events. I haven't been since Nextel took over the sponsorship, but I'd imagine it's still a carnival.

Bring lots of water and leave a cooler in the car stocked with food for after the race. Depending on where you park and when you leave, it could take hours to get out of there.

That reminds me - do your research on routes into and out of the track. Richmond was a disaster, traffic-wise, and I wish we had known the back routes.

During the race, find a spot where you can hang on the fence (or at least get close if they don't allow that at PIR). It's a helluva feeling when the pack blows by you at 120mph.

For some reason it was no longer on my subscribed threads, so the "anyone?" post was more of a bump.

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Your seats sound good. You don't want to be too low to the track, or you can't see the far side over the infield. It's a small track, so it's going to be loud. Louder than anything you've probably heard loud. My first three races were Daytona, Homestead, and Charlotte. Then I went to Richmond and was blown away by the noise. Bring foam earplugs, even if you have the over-the-ear ones.

Find out what the beverage/cooler rules are for the track. I'd assume Arizona is pretty laid back, but it's better to know in advance.

Get there real early, and take in some of the outside events. I haven't been since Nextel took over the sponsorship, but I'd imagine it's still a carnival.

Bring lots of water and leave a cooler in the car stocked with food for after the race. Depending on where you park and when you leave, it could take hours to get out of there.

That reminds me - do your research on routes into and out of the track. Richmond was a disaster, traffic-wise, and I wish we had known the back routes.

During the race, find a spot where you can hang on the fence (or at least get close if they don't allow that at PIR). It's a helluva feeling when the pack blows by you at 120mph.

Good suggestions, thanks.

Is it possible to get in the infield? I heard those are the best places to go.

Make sure you get headphones to listen to the radio. It helps to hear the radio announcers tell you what is going on like engine problems, when they will pit, etc. Scanners are pretty cool too. You can hear all the drivers and crew talk through out the race. you can buy one or rent one and get the frequencies on Jayski.com or at the track.

Your seats sound good. You don't want to be too low to the track, or you can't see the far side over the infield. It's a small track, so it's going to be loud. Louder than anything you've probably heard loud. My first three races were Daytona, Homestead, and Charlotte. Then I went to Richmond and was blown away by the noise. Bring foam earplugs, even if you have the over-the-ear ones.

Find out what the beverage/cooler rules are for the track. I'd assume Arizona is pretty laid back, but it's better to know in advance.

Get there real early, and take in some of the outside events. I haven't been since Nextel took over the sponsorship, but I'd imagine it's still a carnival.

Bring lots of water and leave a cooler in the car stocked with food for after the race. Depending on where you park and when you leave, it could take hours to get out of there.

That reminds me - do your research on routes into and out of the track. Richmond was a disaster, traffic-wise, and I wish we had known the back routes.

During the race, find a spot where you can hang on the fence (or at least get close if they don't allow that at PIR). It's a helluva feeling when the pack blows by you at 120mph.

Earplugs are a must. I went to Richmond a couple of years ago and it was the loudest thing I have evr heard.

As for the fence part, I dont think they allow that anymore. In Richmond they have officials every 50 yards or so and they were pretty strict about it the last time I went.

Definitely take advantage of the cooler/bag rule. Bring in food/water/etc with you, so you can spend money or other things, or don't spend it at all. And while you can't bring beer in with you (You can thank the State of Arizona for that), it's still an advantage over spending 4 or 5 bucks for a 20oz bottle of coke.

The higher you are, the easier it is to see the entire track. So 20 rows up should be a good vantage point, especially being in turn 1, you'll be able to see the cars come around turn 4 towards Start/Finish pretty easily.

Earplugs are definitely a must. My only experience was at Richmond, and it was quite loud. Louder than I thought. However, since there weren't too many restarts, I ended up taking them out 1/2 way through the race and was fine. Even if you think you'd never ever use earplugs, have some anyways.

If the same is true from my experience at Richmond, they will have the NASCAR Experience set up right outside the track. Food, merch and sponsor trailers and setups. Tons of fun. You can race John Deere tractors, get free tins of dip, and watch a variety of different things. Even if you don't buy anything, it's a blast watching the people walk around. Watch the merch trailers because a lot of times, drivers will come during different times of the day and autograph stuff. My buddy and I busted Robby Gordon's balls when he was signing stuff...he took it in good stride though.

Scanners, radios, etc. definitely help enhance the experience. I didn't use them when I went to Richmond, but my buddy did, and it helped with the stuff we couldn't see (cars disappeared into turn 3 and came out after turn 4, we missed a few wrecks from our seats). If you have Sirius (or have thought about it), they have the race, along with several drivers scanner frequencies during the race.

As far as traffic goes, think of it like a tailgate. Take into account that it's going to take at least an hour to get completely out of the complex, and go from there. Richmond sucked because it's a haul and a half from the track to their parking lots. But as long as you account for it, it shoudn't be too bad.

jsarno - going to a NASCAR race is a helluva experience. Enjoy it to the fullest.

I am concerned for my wife though. I have a deeper enjoyment of NASCAR than she does. She will watch, and gets into the drivers (roots for Gordon, finds pleasure in a Stewart crash etc) but for the most part she naps during the race. Is this going to be something that she will enjoy, or will she be "bored"?

-bring lots of beer, preferably bud cans
-smoke 'em if you got 'em, marb reds are the smoke of choice
-rest yer voice so you can do lots of yellin'
-jean shorts and a stained white t-shirt with the arms cut off is yer dress code
-finally, don't sit behind to this guy

I'm not a big fan of NASCAR and I had a great weekend going to a race and she will enjoy it and could even get hooked. I have not been back to a race but I did have a good time and would go to another race. I took my wife to the BellSouth Classic Golf tuor. and she had as much if not more fun than I did and I play golf.

Cool, thanks.
What did you do to make the race fun for you? Any time the wife isn't happy, the husband isn't happy. I want to make this as pleasurable for her as possible, so maybe whatever you did would help?